Self-feeder for threshing-machines.



A. G. SLOGUM.

SELF FEEDER FOR THRESHING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1914.

1,1 23,028; Patented Dec. 29, 1914. I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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APPLIGATION'IILED JUNE 23, 1914.

1 1 23,028. Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

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awoelutoz Wilma a k THE NORRIS PETERS 50., PHOTOJJTHQ, WASHING mm D C cITED STATES FATE OFFICE- ARTHUR G. SLOCUM, OF ENSIG-N, KANSAS.

SELF-FEEDER FOR TI-IRESHING-MACHINES.

Application filed Jnne 23, 1914. Serial No. 846,844.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, ARTHUR Gr. SLooUM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ensign, in the county of Gray and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Feeders forThreshing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In general the present invention relates to improvements in agriculturalmachinery, and particularly to that class of threshing machinesembodying automatic self-feeding mechanism.

The object in view is to provide in combination with a speed controlledgovernor for the feeder shaft of adjustable stop mechanism forautomatically rendering temporarily inoperative the grain feedingmechanism for the thresher when the speed of said feeder shaft fallsbelow a predetermined rate for effectively performing its function, thuseliminating likelihood of choking the thresher cylinder or so retardingthe power means for the same as to be inadequate to accomplish theproper operation of the machine and the disintegration of the grainpassing therethrough.

To this end the invention consists in the provision of a speed governoroperated by the feeder shaft, and an adjustable stop "member adapted tocoact with the grain carrier when the speed of the governor falls belownormal, actuating means for said stop member, and connecting meansintermediate said governor and the actuating means aforesaid peculiarlyadjustable to regulate the cooperation with the feeding mechanism.

A further object in view is to provide a special form of connection forthe connecting means hereinbefore mentioned with the governor whereby topermit of its adjustment to take up wear and tear incident to thesupport of the weight of the stop means by the rotating governorelements.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained bythe novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to behereinafter specifically described and claimed.

Reference will now be hadto the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, wherein Figure 1 is a fragmentary side-elevation ofa feeder for threshing machines showing the application of my inventionthereto; Fig.2 is an end elevation of the device,

parts being shown in section to bring out more clearly the details ofconstruction; F1g. 3 1s a perspective view of the connectmg meansintermediate the governor and the stop member; Fig. 4: is a fragmentarysectional 'view taken on the plane indicated by the line et-fl of Fig.3; and Fig. 5 is a Slnlllitl. section at right angles to that of Fig.4:, taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l designates the frame of thefeeder mechamsm which is of a conventional type and associated with thethreshing machine, the details of which forming no part of my inventionare not shown. The self feeder is provided with the usual main feedershaft 2 carrying at its outer extremity the pulley 3 which isoperatively connected by means of a belt 4 to the pulley 5 of thethreshing cylinder shaft 6. Said cylinder shaft also carries a sprocket7 for transmission of power to the carrier shaft 8 through theinstrumentality of the chain 9 which passes over a drive sprocket 10loosely mounted upon said carrier shaft. The feeder shaft and threshercylinder shaft are driven from a suitable source of power which may beoperatively connected to the pulley 11 of the feeder shaftadjacent thepulley 3 hereinbefore mentioned. Motion is transmitted to the carriershaft 8 so long as the clutch pawl 12, which is pivotally connected at13 to the arm 14: secured in turn fixedly to the feeder shaft, isinterlocked with the driving sprocket 10, the latter being provided atits periphery with a plurality of lugs 15 adapted to engage with aroller 16 carried by said pawl. This type of clutch is of conventionalform and does not need to be more particularly described in the presentinstance. The pawl 12, however, is formed with an oifstanding arm 17which is adapted to coact with certain stop mechanism, now to bedescribed, when it is desired to disengage the driving means from thecarrier shaft so as to discontinue the motion of the grain carrieroperated thereby.

As shown particularly in Fig. 2, the feeder shaft 2 is provided with abevel gear 18 adjacent the pulley 3 which intermeshes with a similargear 19 carried by the lower extremity of a vertically disposed shaft 20carrying the balled speed governor 21. The balls of said governor arefixedly secured to the shaft 20 at its upper extremity while they areprovided with aloose connection at I I,

their lower extremity so that as the shaft 20 is actuated or rotated bythe feeder shaft 2 this lower connection or collar 22 is raised bycentrifugal action against the spiral spring 23 interposed between saidcollar and the upper fixed connection of the ball. Directly associatedwith the collar 22 is a larger collar 24 to which the upper extremitiesof a stirrup 25 are adjustably connected, said stirrup formingconnecting means'intermediate the governor 21 and the arm 26 pivotallysecured at 27 to the feeder frame adjacent the driving sprocket 10 ofthe-carrier shaft 8, said stirrup being de- .tachably secured to saidarm as indicated at 28 b'yfimeans of a set screw extending through abifurcated extremity of the stirrup, the point of connection withrespect to the arm pivot controlling the size of the arc in which thearmwill swing. It will be perfectly'obvious that the detachableconnection 28 of the stirrup may be shifted within: a substantial rangelongitudinally of the arm so as to regulate the extent of verticalmovement of said arm, this regulating means being'only one of severalmethods of adjustment of these parts as will be hereinafter *3 moreparticularly pointed out. The arm 26 carries near its outer extremity astop member 29 adj ustably secured to said arm by means of a set screw30 so that it is apparent that the member 29 may be raised or lowered 1.in its position on the arm 26 which adjustment will obviously controlthe coiiperationi of this stop member with the arm 17 of the clutch pawl12. r

As hereinbefore premised, the upper ends of 'the stirrup 25 areadjustably connected to the collar 24 by means of the adjusting nuts 31so. that it is possible to raise and lower the normal position of thearm 26 by this means and this in turn also controls the abuttingcooperation of the member 29 I withthe arm 17. The collar 24: surrounds5 the movable collar 22 of the governor which is provided with a grooveto accommodate the segmental clamping shoes 32 disposed within 'thecollar 2 1 and movably attached thereto through the instrumentality ofthe set screws 33, 33" passing through the collar 24 from oppositesides. As will be noted a by reference to Figs. 1 and 5 particularly,these shoes are beveled on their inner faces to-"conform to the'V-shaped groove of the collar 24 and since the shoes remain stationarywhile the collar revolves during actuation of the governor, considerablewear results at this point of connection. In orderto 'ta-ke up lostmotion or wear it is only necessary to screw the screws 33, 33 inwardlyso as to move the shoes 32 farther into the grooves? will be apparentfrom the foregoing that one" of: my main'objects is to provide a widerange of adjustmentlof the elements of my stopping mechanism so that theadjustment of said stopping mechanism may be accomplished quickly,depending upon the actual conditions existing during the use of themachine. For example, it may be mentioned that the attachment whenconnected to one machine might require the adjustment of the arm 26 at adifferent horizontal plane from that which would be desirable when theattachment'is connected to a different machine of the same class. Thecontact or abutment of the member 29 with theclutch pawl 17 being suchthat breakage often occurs, it is an easy matter to insert a new stopmember or readjust a broken one when such necessity arises with myarrangement. The governor is preferably supported in the "verticalposition shown above the feeder shaft by means of braces 34, 35.

The operation of my attachment may be briefly summarized in thefollowing manner: The grain carrier of the self feeder (not shown) underordinary conditions of operation supplies the grain to the threshercylinder but :it is requisite that said carrier should be renderedinoperative for feeding purposes when the cylinder receives anovercharge chokingup' the machine with the grain and interfering withthe proper operation of the mechanism. The governor 21 isoperated fromthe feeder shaft which revolves at a predetermined number of revolutionsand when it has acquired the proper speed it raises the arm 26 throughthe connecting stirrup 25 so as to carry'the stop member 29 out of thepath of the arm 17 of the clutch pawl 12 which connects the drivesprocket 10 to the carrier shaft 8. Underthe condition just mentionedabove of choking of the thresher cylinder the speed of the governor 21is reduced allowing the army 26 to movedownwardly until its adjustablestop member 29 moves into the path of rotation of the arm 17 of theclutch pawl 12, immediately disconnecting the carrier shaft from thedriving means therefor and when the thresher cylinder has had ample timeto clear itself the speed of the feeder shaft 2 increases causing thegoverner 21 to raise the arm 26 and again conmoving the stop member intoand out of the path of the clutch to render the feeding mechanismrespectively inoperative or operati e in relation to the driving meansaforesai 2. In a device of the class described, the combination with amain feeder shaft and grain feeding mechanism, of a speed con trolledgovernor operable by said shaft, driving means for said feeder shaft,and feeding mechanism including a clutch, an operating arm pivotallymounted adjacent the clutch aforesaid, an adjustable stop member carriedby the free end of said arm, connecting means intermediate the governorand the arm for moving the stop member into and out of the path of theclutch to render the feeding mechanism respectively inoperative oroperative in relation to the driving means aforesaid, and means foradjusting the connecting means longitudinally of the arm to govern theextent of arcuate movement of the operating arm with respect to theclutch member according to a predetermined speed of the governor.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a mainfeeder shaft and a carrier shaft, of a speed controlled governoroperatively connected to the feeder shaft, driving means for driving thefeeder and carrier shafts, a clutch member intermediate the carriershaft and its driving means, an operating arm pivotally mounted at oneend adjacent to the carrier shaft, a stop member adjustably secured tothe arm for vertical adjustment and adapted to cooperate with the clutchmember in one position to render the driving means inoperative withrespect to the carrier shaft, and movable into another position to causeactuation of said carrier shaft by the driving means, and a stirrupconnected at one end to the governor and at its other end to a pointintermediate the length of the operating arm, said latter connectionbeing shiftable to vary the swing of the arm upon actuation of thestirrup by the governor whereby to move the arm according to apredetermined speed of the feeder shaft into and out of relation withthe clutch member.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a mainfeeder shaft and a carrier shaft, of a speed controlled governoroperatively connected to the feeder shaft, driving means for driving thefeeder and carrier shafts, a clutch member intermediate the carriershaft and its driving means, an operating arm pivotally mounted adjacentto the carrier shaft, a stop member secured to the arm and adapted tocooperate with the clutch member in one position to render the drivingmeans inoperative with respect to .the carrier shaft, and movable intoanother position to cause actuation of said carrier shaft by the drivingmeans, and a stirrup adjustably connected at one end to the governor andat its other end adj ustably connected to the operating arm intermediateits pivot and the stop member carried thereby whereby to regulatecooperation of the stop member with the clutch member at a predeterminedspeed of the governor.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a mainfeeder shaft and a grain feeding mechanism including a clutch member,driving means for said feeder shaft and feeding mechanism, a speedgovernor operatively connected to the feeder shaft, a stop memberadapted to cooperate With the clutch member, connecting meansintermediate the stop member and the governor and comprising a stirrup,an annularly grooved collar to which the stirrup is adjustably connectedat one end, and adjustable clamping shoes disposed in the groove of saidcollar and connecting the collar to the governor.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ARTHUR- G. SLOOUM.

IVitnesses:

MYRTLE SLooUM, JAY DAWSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Iatents,

. Washington, D. 0.

